NS Review – Miitopia (3DS)
A strange feeling to boot up my 3DS, once a console I took with me everywhere, frantically racking up every StreetPass so I could get the most out of every Mii who ventured into my Plaza. Initially I thought Miitopia would be the sort of game you’d find in said Plaza, like Puzzle Swap, Zombies, or Mansion. Much to my surprise this game carries a lot more depth than your standard StreetPass focused game, establishing a rather unique style and premise off the bat. A Dark Lord (of your choosing) has stolen the faces of many innocent townspeople, fusing them with monsters you have to defeat in order to restore peace. Players must build a party of Miis from different classes to help them on their quest, Miis can be pulled from Tomodachi Life, your Plaza, or built from scratch- so if you ever wanted Bane, Batman, Luigi, and Nicolas Cage as a synchronized pop-band slaying evil in a pastel fantasy world then fear not- Miitopia has you covered.
The game is lighthearted- about as lighthearted as such a technically morbid plots allows. There are lots of puns and frequent smatterings of small talk between your team, to the point it does feel like you’re experiencing some kind of existential fever dream rather than anything too serious. The visuals of the backgrounds are smooth and soothing while text-holders boast a brighter, more animated look. Many of the interfaces sport scrapbook style decorations, and the monsters are just…downright bizarre. There’s a fair amount of dissonance caused by the Miis themselves, so unfortunately the jagged stars of the show look quite out of place contrasting with the sleeker, more refined images the rest of the game presents. The audio of Miitopia is nothing overly spectacular, sound effects don’t stand out too much but they do fit right in. Music is pleasant to listen to, an upbeat RPG style tune dancing along to your battles for example, the exact kind you’d expect to hear in this sort of genre. There’s a mix of touch screen and button controls, as well as the (almost mythical at this point) 3D function; which certainly isn’t the best I’ve seen in the 3DS’s lifetime, but not the worst either. The gameplay is simple enough but it does feel like the game spends a lot of time playing itself, even with the auto-option turned off. There’s lots of interesting little mechanics that build the experience. Amiibo functionality is present; gifting you new outfits or tickets for mini-games, different traits and classes allow a more personalized journey where your team evolves and even foods have varying effects depending on whether your character likes the taste or not. There’s some very frustrating stuff in place too, such as not being able to see enemy health, or just watching your team idly chat, find a battle, then repeat until you’re at an Inn- an experience that isn’t particularly challenging or rewarding.
Overall Miitopia is livelier and more robust than I thought it would be. Don’t take it too seriously- and players should have a decent, lively little experience in their hands, and another intriguing addition the 3DS’s library. If you’re looking for something lighthearted and fancy returning to a good old fashioned StreetPass style adventure, this might be the game for you.
Thanks to Nintendo for providing a copy of Miitopia for me to review. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments, or on my Twitter. Thanks for reading!
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